While it is true that anything can happen, Donald Trump has maintained a solid lead in the GOP primary polls and is easily favored to win the Republican Party presidential nomination. Even before he officially announced his candidacy, there has been speculation as to whom he might choose as a running mate. One thing that was obvious is that it wouldn’t be Mike Pence, who went on to run for president himself, though his campaign lasted less than six months.
In the past, we’ve heard several names floated. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y), Kari Lake (R-Ariz.), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) were all under consideration at one point. But who is Trump planning to pick as his running mate, assuming he does win the nomination? Trump was asked about this during his Fox News town hall Wednesday evening with Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier.
“Who would be in the running for a vice president?” MacCallum asked.
“Well, I can’t tell you that, really,” Trump said before adding. “I mean, I know who it’s going to be.”
“Can you give us a hint?” asked Baier.
“We’ll do another show sometime,” Trump insisted, prompting an amused response from the audience.
“Well, what about any of the people who you’ve run against? Would you be open to mending fences with any of them?” MacCallum followed up.
“Oh, sure. I will. I will. I’ve already started to like Christie, better,” Donald Trump joked, a clear reference to the fact that Chris Christie had dropped out of the race earlier in the day.
“Christie for vice president?” MacCallum joked.
“I don’t see it. I don’t see it,” Trump said. “That would be an upset. Christie for vice president. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to announce—” Trump started to joke.
So, while Trump won’t say, he claims he already knows who it will be. Last month, we reported that Trump was "asking allies and advisers for their thoughts about Nikki Haley as a potential vice presidential candidate,” something that many of his supporters weren’t thrilled about. Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter argued at the time that a Trump-Haley ticket would do better than any other potential GOP ticket with Trump at the top.
Haley claimed to not be interested in running for vice president and scoffed at allegations she was running to be Trump’s running mate. “It’s not even a conversation, and it doesn’t matter what candidate wants me to answer it: I don’t play for second,” Haley said. “It’s offensive when anybody says that, ‘Oh, she wants to be vice president.’ You don’t do something like this to be vice president. You don’t sacrifice emotionally, mentally, physically with your family, everything to come in second.”
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It’s hard to say whether Trump was being completely honest about who he intends to pick as his running if he wins the nomination or if he’s just narrowed it down to a few candidates.
Trump’s former campaign manager and advisor, Kellyanne Conway, predicted that whoever he picks, it would be a woman. “I think if President Trump runs again in 2024 or whoever the [Republican] nominee is, it’s either going to be a woman if he decides not to run, or he’ll seriously consider selecting a woman as his running mate,” she predicted in October 2022. “And not just a woman for woman’s sake, because he’s never done that. A woman because he recognizes that we’re one-half of the country, more than one-half of the country, and more than one-half of the electorate, and we have to restore faith that women leaders in government can get the job done.”
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